17th March is St Patrick’s Day, and is celebrated by those of Irish decent all over the world especially in America. But who was St. Patrick, and how did he become Patron Saint of Ireland?  What did he do, and from where do all the associated customs and symbols arise, such as shamrocks, wearing green, Leprechauns with pots of gold at the end of rainbows?

Who was St. Patrick

• St Patrick has been accredited with converting the Irish back to Christianity after they abandoned the religion and went back to paganism when Roman rule ended. He lived in the 5 century but his exact dates are not known. St Patrick was in fact an English lad of 16 when it is believed he was captured from his home in Northern England and taken as a slave to Ireland. He escaped 6 years later and returned to his family.
• After much studying he became a cleric and later returned to Ireland. Little is known about where he worked or the places he visited but by the seventh century he was already revered as the patron saint of Ireland. St Patrick’s day is celebrated on 17th March because that is believed to be the day of his death.

Snakes

It is believed that St. Patrick banished snakes from Ireland because there are no snakes there to this day. In Christianity snakes represent evil and St. Patrick drove out the pagan ways, thought to be evil, and re-introduced Christianity so it is easy to see how the belief he banished snaked came about. The fact is it is unlikely there ever were snakes on Ireland because the icy waters surrounding the island would make it next to impossible for snakes to migrate from Britain or anywhere else. 

The Shamrock

• The Shamrock became associated with St. Patrick because it is believed he taught the doctrine of the Holy Trinity by using the three-leafed plant, to illustrate God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, in One. There are however many pagan triple deities revered around the world and Ireland had reconverted to paganism at the end of Roman Rule. This probably helped him with converting the population. However it does not point to any specific member of the clover.Most botanists agree the white clover (Trifolium repens) is the plant referred to as a shamrock. So not all clovers are shamrocks and no shamrocks have four leaves. 
• The word shamrock comes from a Gaelic word meaning “little clover” and is one of the clover family. Most botanists believe the white clover (trifolium repens) is the specific plant commonly known as shamrock. 
• The belief that four leaf clovers bring good luck, has nothing to do with the shamrock and St. Patrick. It goes back to the ancient Druids where each leave was associated with different qualities. The first hope, the second faith, the third love, and the fourth happiness. No wonder they are believed to bring good luck and no wonder they have been confused with shamrocks.

Why Wear Green

Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle because of its lush green landscape. Green is the colour of Spring, Shamrock and part of Ireland’s tri-colour flag and for the past 40 years the Chicago river has been died green. There is a tradition that if you are Irish or of Irish descent and you don’t wear green on St. Patrick’s Day then you are very likely to get pinched by a leprechaun because it is believed that if when you wear green a leprechaun can't see you. I was in St. Louis for St. Patrick’s day in 1991and the parades and celebrations were a sea of green and a sight to behold, including lots of dogs wearing green hats. It was such fun. Unfortunately the days before I had a digital camera or I would have used one of my photos from the occasion. (Perhaps I need to photograph more photos).

Leprechauns, Pots of Gold & Rainbows

So now the fun part. According to Irish folk lore Leprechauns are tricksters so you don’t want to irritate them. The mythical Irish leprechaun traditionally is a little old man, with a leather apron and a cocked hat dressed as a shoemaker because they pass their time by mending the shoes of the Irish fairies. According to the myth the fairies pay them with gold coins, which are traditionally kept in a pot. Hence the leprechauns mythical “pot of gold”. The myth is to find the leprechauns pot of gold you first have to catch a leprechaun. Then you have to get him to tell you where he hid is pot of gold. The pot of gold is hidden at the end of the rainbow because no-one can find the “end” of the rainbow because it keeps moving just like the leprechaun which can never be caught. 

Food

The traditional St.Patrick’s day meal was cabbage with Irish bacon. Cabbage being a staple part of the Irish diet as well as potatoes. However in some parts of the world this has been replaced with corned beef because Irish bacon is either unobtainable or very expensive.